À partir de XIXᵉ siècle
Southern Africa and parts of western and central Africa
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Bantu is a large group of closely related African languages whose identity was recognized in nineteenth-century comparative linguistics. The name was proposed by W. H. I. Bleek in 1851 and later incorporated into the broader Niger-Congo family as a subgroup within Benue-Congo. Earlier classifications associated Bantu with southern Africa, while some scholars proposed relationships extending into western Africa.
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Le récit
The excerpt describes Bantu as a clearly recognized group of closely related languages by the middle of the nineteenth century. Earlier scholars referred to it variously as the Kaffrarian or South African family of languages. W. H. I. Bleek, identified as the founder of comparative Bantu studies, proposed the name Bantu in 1851, deriving it from a word meaning “people” in many of the languages concerned.
Bantu classification was initially shaped by comparisons of noun-class systems. Bleek emphasized the difference between Bantu languages, whose complex noun classes did not depend on sex gender, and Semitic or Hamitic languages, whose noun classification was associated with sex gender. Later scholarship in the excerpt criticizes the use of such typological traits as sufficient evidence for genetic relationship.
In the classification associated with Greenberg, Bantu was repositioned within a wider family. It was treated as a subgroup of Benue-Congo, which itself formed part of Niger-Congo, alongside other languages farther east in the Adamawa-Eastern branch. The passage also records earlier proposals extending Bantu-related languages into western Africa, although the exact scope and relationships remained subjects of debate.
À partir de XIXᵉ siècle
Southern Africa and parts of western and central Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Bantu is a large group of closely related African languages whose identity was recognized in nineteenth-century comparative linguistics. The name was proposed by W. H. I. Bleek in 1851 and later incorporated into the broader Niger-Congo family as a subgroup within Benue-Congo. Earlier classifications associated Bantu with southern Africa, while some scholars proposed relationships extending into western Africa.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
The excerpt describes Bantu as a clearly recognized group of closely related languages by the middle of the nineteenth century. Earlier scholars referred to it variously as the Kaffrarian or South African family of languages. W. H. I. Bleek, identified as the founder of comparative Bantu studies, proposed the name Bantu in 1851, deriving it from a word meaning “people” in many of the languages concerned.
Bantu classification was initially shaped by comparisons of noun-class systems. Bleek emphasized the difference between Bantu languages, whose complex noun classes did not depend on sex gender, and Semitic or Hamitic languages, whose noun classification was associated with sex gender. Later scholarship in the excerpt criticizes the use of such typological traits as sufficient evidence for genetic relationship.
In the classification associated with Greenberg, Bantu was repositioned within a wider family. It was treated as a subgroup of Benue-Congo, which itself formed part of Niger-Congo, alongside other languages farther east in the Adamawa-Eastern branch. The passage also records earlier proposals extending Bantu-related languages into western Africa, although the exact scope and relationships remained subjects of debate.
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